Lubricating device



July 6, 1937. v. .1. HARRIS v LUBRICATING DEVI CE Filed Nov. 19, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 6, 1937. V. J. HARRIS LUBRICATING DEVICE Filed Nov.. 19, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZZZ/W?? Patented July 6, 1937 UNITED STATES 2,085,974 LUBRICATING DEVICE Vernon J. Harris, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Joseph Weidenhol'f, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 19, 1934, Serial No. 753,570

10 Claims. (Cl. 123-196) The invention relates to a lubricator for the upper part of an internal combustion engine and has for an object the provision of a new and improved lubricator of this type.

The lubrication of the upper part of an internal combustion engine by feeding lubricant in measured quantities into the intake manifold posterior to the carbureter has been found to have many advantages, such as improving the emciency and quietness of the engine and prolonging the life of the operating parts lubricated thereby. A device particularly adapted for this method of lubrication of an engine is disclosed in the Vernon J. Harris Patent No. 1,960,584, dated May 9, 1934, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a device of this character embodying automatic means for controlling the quantity of lubricant supplied to the engine at various speeds, together with means for maintaining the quantity substantially constant irrespective of changes of temperature of the lubricant.

Another object is to provide in such a device a new and improved thermostatically controlled means for compensating for changes in the temperature so that uniform quantities of lubricant are supplied at sub-zero as well as at high summer temperatures.

A further object of the invention is to provide an upper motor lubricator having a container for receiving a supply of oil, an auxiliary reservoir in the upper portion of the container, means for elevating lubricant from the container to the auxiliary reservoir, means including a valve for controlling the discharge of fluid from the auxiliary reservoir and conducting it to the intake manifold, and means for automatically operating the valve in accordance with the depression in the intake manifold, including a thermostatic device responsive to the temperature in the container and effective to actuate said valve independently of the automatic control means.

A still further object is to provide a new and improved valve mechanism for obtaining accurate control of the quantity of lubricant supplied to the engine.

Further objects will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary section through a preferred form of the invention, approximately along the line l--l of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof on a reduced scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section approximately along the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section through the valve and its operating piston.

Figs. 5 and 5a are fragmentary sections along the line 55,of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a view of the thermostatic element.

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary elevational view showing a preferred form of the invention connected to the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine.

Although I have illustrated in the drawings and shall herein describe in detail a preferred form of the invention, it is to be understood that I do not intend to limit the invention to the specific embodiment shown, but intend to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the scope of the appended claims.

As illustrated in the drawings, the invention is embodied in a lubricator having a receptacle or lubricant container l0 provided with a closure or head I l. Preferably the closure has a bracket l2 secured thereto which serves as a means for mounting the lubricator.

In order to feed lubricant to the intake manifold of the engine at a rate independent of the level of the lubricant in the container 10, an auxiliary reservoir I3 is provided in the upper portion of the container, preferably secured to or formed integrally with the closure ll. Lubricant l4, which may be supplied to the container by removing a screw cap i5, is elevated into the reservoir I 3 through a standpipe IS, the upper end of which projects through the bottom of the reservoir so as to discharge into the reservoir. In order to elevate oil through the pipe IS, an air intake pipe I1 is provided. This, pipe at its upper end extends into the lower portion of a. recess l8 formed in the closure H, a bushing H with a restricted opening ll being placed in the recess to limit the air passing therethrough. The upper portion of the recess is preferably filled with a suitable air filtering material I9 and has an air inlet 20 shielded by means of a cap 2 l. The lower end of the pipe I! is bent as illustrated most clearly in Fig. 1, the end I'I thereof being suitably fitted into the lower end of the standpipe l6. By this means air under atmospheric pressure is admitted to the lower portion of the standpipe, and since the upper end of the standpipe is subjected to the suction of the engine intake manifold, the air lifts the lubricant through the standpipe l6 and discharges it into the auxiliary reservoir l3. The auxiliary reservoir is open at the top so that excess oil may overflow back into the container, thereby maintaining a relatively constant head of lubricant above a circular discharge opening 22 formed in the bottom of 'ne reservoir I3. Lubricant passing through the outlet 22 is caught in a cup 23 suitably secured to the lower side of the member forming the reservoir l3, and is conducted through connecting conduits 24 and 25 to a dome-like chamber 26 formed partly by a transparent wall '21 so that the discharge of lubricant from the pipe 25 into the chamber 26 may be readily observed. The lower portion of the chamber 26 is formedby means of a dished member or pan 28 having a central discharge opening 29 communicating with a chamber 30 provided in the closure ll, said chamber 30 being arranged for connection to the intake manifold of the engine by means of a conduit 3| and a suitable connection 32. Thus the suction of the engine causes a depression in the conduit 3| and also in the chambers 30 and 26, pipes 25 and 24 and cup 23, and since the cup 23 is open to the interior of the container in at its upper edge 23', the upper portion of the container I0 is also subjected to the variable depression of the intake manifold.

In order to control the flow of lubricant through the reservoir outlet 22 of the preferred form of the invention illustrated in. the drawings, a conically shaped needle valve 35 is provided. This valve is preferably opened and closed automatically in accordance with the operating demands on the engine in order to supply lubricant in varying quantities. Herein the means provided for actuating the valve includes a metal piston 36 operating in a cylinder 31, and means connecting said piston with the valve including a thermostatic element 38. The piston 36 is urged upwardly in the cylinder 31 by means of a coiled spring 39 so as normally to maintain the valve 35 in an open or lubricant delivering position, and the lower end of the cylinder 31 is subjected to the depression in the upper end of the container I ll so as to be responsive to the suction in the intake manifold of the engine. As illustrated herein the circumferential wall of the cylinder 31 and also the lower end wall 40 thereof are formed integrally with the closure I I and an opening 4| is provided to form a communication between the lower endof the cylinder and the upper end of the container. Thus when the engineis idling and the depression is relatively great, the valve 35 is moved toward its closed position so as to pass small quantities of lubricant, and as the load on the engine increases and the depression drops, the piston 36 moves the valve 35 toward its open position.

The thermostatic element 38 is incorporated in the connection between the piston 36 and valve 35 so as to compensate for the viscosity changes in the lubricant due to temperature variations. In a device of this character, it is desirable not only to control the flow of lubricant in accordance with the load demands on the engine, but also to maintain the accuracy of the control even though the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere may vary from sub-zero winter conditions to equally severe summer temperatures. Thus for low temperatures the connection between the valve 35 and the piston 36 should be shortened to increase the outlet opening, and for high temperatures the connection between the valve and the piston should be lengthened to decrease the outlet opening. As illustrated herein, this is accomplished by the thermostatic element 38 which is somewhat U-shaped and has one end 36 pivotally connected to the piston rod 42 by means of a pin 43, and its other end 8" pivotally connected to the valve member 35 by means of a pin 44. Preferably the lower end of the piston rod 42 is enlarged and bifurcated at 45 so as to provide a guide slot 46 in which portions of the pin 44 move. In order to have the thermostatic element follow more closely the viscosity curve of the lubricant, an expansion limiting element 41 is provided intermediate the ends of the thermostatic element 36. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the element 41 is in the form of a. rivet secured to the lower leg of the thermostatic element 38 and slidable through a suitable opening in the upper leg thereof, a head 41' on the rivet limiting the separating movement of the middle portions of the element 38. This in effect shortens the thermostatic element and reduces the rate of the separating movement of the ends 36' and 38" as the temperature increases. In practice it has been found satisfactory to have the member 4! become effective at approximately F.

The accuracy of the control of the flow of lubricant is further enhanced by maintaining one side of the needle valve 35 in engagement with the side wall of the outlet 22, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 5 and 5a., so as to leave a crescent shaped outlet opening. It will be readily apparent that by maintaining the valve in this position the flow of lubricant through the crescent shaped opening will be less subject to variation due to the surface tension of the lubricant as compared with the flow if the needle valve were centrally or otherwise positioned so as to form a. narrower annular opening for the lubricant to pass through. The needle valve 35 may be maintained in engage ment with the side wall of the outlet by the weight of the thermostatic element 38, but preferably a separate means such as a spring 48 is provided for this purpose. Preferably a manual means is provided for adjusting the position of the valve 35 with respect to the outlet opening, in order to obtain proper discharge of lubricant. As illustrated herein, the piston rod 42 is threaded at 42 and engages suitable screw threads in the piston 36, the piston being provided with a projecting portion 36' extending out through an apertured cover 31 and having a screw driver slot 36" therein, since the piston rod 42 is held against rotation by the thermostatic element 38 (the looped end of which projects into the upper portion of the reservoir I3), it is merely necessary to rotate the piston 36 by means of a suitable tool to adjust the valve 35 initially.

The operation of the device may be understood most readily by reference to Figs. 1 and 7, Fig. 7 illustrating somewhat diagrammatically the connections between the lubricating device and the intake manifold of an engine. In said figure, 50 represents a cylinder block, 5| an intake manifold, 52 a carbureter, and 53 a fuel supply line to the carbureter. The lubricating device is connected by means of the conduit 3| to the intake manifold by means of a suitable ported connecting washer 54 inserted between the riser of the carbureter and the inlet end of the manifold. Thus, during operation of the engine, conduit 3| is exhausted, and through the connections hereinbefore described, including the chambers 30 and 26, pipes 25 and 24, and cup 23, the upper portion of the container I0 is subjected to the variable depression of the intake manifold. This causes lubricant to be elevated from the container to the auxiliary reservoir l3. From this reservoir the lubricant passes through the controlled outlet 22 and passes successively through the cup 23, pipes 24 and 25, and chambers 26 and 30 to the conduit 3|. The position of the valve is automatically regulated by means of the piston and cylinder device 36, 31, so as to tend to close the outlet as the depression increases and to open the outlet as the depression decreases. The thermostatic element 38 effectively compensates for variations in temperature of the lubricant. At temperatures below approximately 70 F. the two legs of the thermostatic element are sufficiently contracted so that the upper leg does not engage the head 41' of the rivet, the entire length of the thermostatic element then being efiective in determining the position of the valve. As the temperature increases above 70 F. the rivet 41 becomes effective to limit the separating movement of the two legs of thethermostatic element with the result that the element is in efiect shortened and the connection between the piston and valve formed by the thermostatic element lengthens at a reduced rate as the temperature continues to rise.

In order to prevent foreign matter from entering through the air intake pipe H, a cup-shaped fine mesh screen I9 is preferably positioned in the bottom of the recess l8 and the lower end of the wad of air filtering material [9 is placed therein. The air filtering material is preferably forced laterally against the side wall of the recess l8 by means of a ring 55, which is forced into the recess to compress the filtering material and effectively seals the upper edge of the filtering material l9 against the wall of the recess, thus preventing any air passing down around the filtering material. This construction has been found particularly effective to prevent foreign particles in the air from passing into the pipe I1.

For the purpose of preventing foreign matter in the lubricant from being carried into the intake manifold, a screen 60 (Fig. 1) is preferably provided surrounding the lower ends of the pipes l6 and H.

In order to avoid injury to the valve 35 during shipment, a cotter pin BI is generally inserted through a suitable hole in the projecting portion 36 of the piston 36 so that the closing movement of the valve 35 is limited. Preferably the cotter key holds the piston about midway between its two extremes of travel. With an idling motor, or a motor without load on it, there is a high vacuum in the intake manifold and without such a cotter key the piston would be pulled down to its lowest point so as to close the valve. The cotter key is therefore effective to hold the valve open to about the point where the most driving is done and its use facilitates the initial adjustment necessary to cause the device to furnish the required amount of oil to the engine. After the lubricator has been installed, adjusted, and has been in operation a very short time, allowing the oil conducting pipes to become coated. this cotter pin may be removed and discarded. The rate of flow may then be adjusted by rotating the piston 35 by means of a suitable tool. The piston is provided with vertical serrations at 82 and provided with a suitable spring detent (not shown), so as to maintain the that a quart of oil'is fed for five hundred miles of operation, it is merely necessary to rotate the piston one full turn in the direction to close the valve in order to cut down the lubricant to the proper amount.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an upper motor lubricator having a needle valve for regulating the flow of lubricant and a suction operated piston for actuating said valve, means forming an adjustable connection between said piston and valve comprising a U-shaped thermostatic strip having one end pivotally connected to the piston and the other to the valve so as to compensate for'temperature changes in the lubricant. I

2. In a device of the character described hav ing a valve member for regulating the flow of a 3 liquid, means for actuating said valve member to vary said now, a U-shaped thermostatic strip having its free ends connected to said valve memher and means respectively, and means carried on one leg of said strip intermediate, its ends and operable to engage the other leg of the strip to.

limit the separating movement of the two legs of the strip at that point and thereby modify the separating movement of the free ends of the strip v needle valve for controlling. the flow of lubricant through said outlet and a suction operated piston for actuating said needle valve, in combination, means forming a slidable connection intermediate sa d piston and valve and a U-shaped thermostat c strip having one end pivotally connected to the piston and the other .to the valve for adjusting the valve relatively to the piston to compensate for temperature changes.

4. In an upper motor lubricator having an auxiliary reservoir with an outlet therefor, a needle valve for controlling the flow of lubricant through said outlet and a suction operated piston for actuating the needle valve, in combination, means forming a slidable connection intermediate said piston and valve and a U-shaped thermostatic strip having one end pivotally connected to the piston and the other to the valve for adjusting the valve relatively to the piston to compensate for temperature changes, and means for limiting the separating movement of the two legs of said U-shaped strip at a predetermined point so as to modify the expansion curve of the thermostatic strip.

5. In an upper motor lubricator having an auxiliary reservoir with an outlet therein, a needle valve for controlling the flow of lubricant through said outlet and a suction operated piston for moving the needle valve, in combination,.means forming a slidable connection intermediate said piston and valve, a U-shaped thermostatic member having one end pivotally connected to the piston and the'other to the valve for adjusting the valve relatively to the piston to compensate for temperature changes, and means for limiting the separating movement of the two legs of said U-shaped member at a predetermined point so as to modify the expansion curve of the thermostatic member comprising a rivet inserted through alined apertures in the two legs of the thermostatic member and provided with heads on its opposite ends which engage the member at a predetermined temperature.

6. In an upper motor lubricator having an auxiliary reservoir with an outlet therefor, a first device for controlling the flow of lubricant through said outlet and a second device suction operated for actuating the first device, in combination, means forminga slidable connection intermediate said devices and a U-shaped thermostatic strip having one end pivotally connected to each device for adjusting the control device relatively to the actuating device to com pensate for temperature changes.

7. In an upper motor lubricator having an auxiliary reservoir with an outlet therein, a needle valve for controlling the flow of lubricant through said outlet and a suction operated device for actuating the needle valve, in combination, a U- shaped thermostatic strip having one end pivotally connected to said device and the other to the valve for adjusting the valve relatively to the device to compensate for temperature changes, and means for limiting the separating movement of the two legs of said U-shaped strip at an intermediate point so as to modify the expansion curve of the thermostatic strip when subjected to high temperatures.

8. In an upper motor lubricator having a first device for controlling the flow of lubricant and a second device suction operated for actuating said first device to vary the flow, in combination, means forming a slidable connection intermediate said devices, a U-shaped thermostatic member having one end pivotally connected to the control device and the other to the actuating device for adjusting the devices relatively to each other to compensate for temperature changes, and means for limiting the separating movement of the two legs of said U-shaped member at a prell 1 f determined intermediate point so as to modify the expansion curve of the thermostaticmember comprising a rivet inserted through alined apertures in the two legs of the thermostatic member and provided with heads on its opposite ends to, engage the member at a predetermined temperature.

9. In a device for feeding liquid to the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine, a

conical valve member for regulating the flow of liquid, means for actuating said valve member to vary said flow, a U-shaped thermostatic strip having its free ends secured to said valve member and means respectively, means for limiting the separating movement of the two legs of the thermostatic strip at a point removed from said ends, means forming a circular valve seat through which the conical valve member extends, and resilient means for maintaining the valve mem--- ber in engagement with one edge of the valve seat so as to maintain a crescent shaped opening through which the liquid passes.

10. In a liquid feeding device of the character described, in combination, a needle valve for regulating the flow of liquid, means for actuating said valve including a thermostatic element connected to the valve and operable to compensate for temperature changes, and means for modifying the relative movement between parts of said thermostatic element at a predetermined temperature so as to modify the expansion curve of the thermostatic element when subjected to high temperatures.

a VERNON J. HARRIS. 

